A Day Not Meant for Celebrating
by AmazonTurk
Summary: Kandi hates her birthday; given an assignment away from the office, she encounters someone who could make her feel worse or better. No Aerith bashing...I promise!


**_A/N: I originally started this on my birthday, so that's why April 21st is the date in the fic. And yes, I am 28. (weeps at loss of youth) Haven't done too much on Kandi's past other than the fact that she was a former Honey Bee Girl. A little insight into our resident fuck up._**

**_Disclaimer: I own nothing but Kandi._**

* * *

_No, oh gods, no, no, no! _Those were Kandi's first thoughts as she rolled over and whacked her alarm clock and silenced the infernal contraption.

It was Monday morning. Another weekend died a tragic death to the sounds of a high pitched _beep, beep, beep_. And now, Kandi had to get out of her nice cozy bed and face the day and the Grouchy Spawn that greeted her. Shuffling her feet, one sock on, the other lost somewhere in the mess of her sheets, she bounced off her dresser, opened the door, discovered it was her closet, opened the other door, made her way into the hall and down toward the kitchen...when she stopped and breathed in.

_Coffee_, her brain said with an orgasmic purr. _Coffee good. Feet, go get._

Kandi's feet began moving again when she realized she hadn't made coffee. And yet it was made. But if she had not made it, how could it have been made? Coffee doesn't make itself. But that would be cool if it did! Maybe she had some super intelligent coffee that knew how to brew itself and therefore did for her because it knew how much she hated Monday mornings.

"'Morning, Mom!"

Or maybe the Grouchy Spawn had made it.

Kandi peered into the kitchen and stared at Andria, grinning from ear to ear and making breakfast. Okay, not so Grouchy Spawn. "Andi," she said, her voice rough with sleep. "What are you--"

"Happy Birthday!" her daughter said with a triumphant smile, producing a plate of eggs, hashbrowns, bacon and toast. "You like cream and sugar in your coffee, right? Lots of it?"

"B-birthday?" Kandi stammered, she stumbled around and found the remote for the TV, flicking the news station on. Monday, April 21st read on the bottom of the screen. "Shit."

Andria watched as her mother sprinted back to her room and closed the door, the clicking of the lock echoing through the house. "Mom?" she asked, setting the plate of breakfast down on the table and going to Kandi's room. She tried to door in vain. "Mom, are you okay?"

"I'm fine," came the muffled reply. Andria knew she had buried herself under the covers.

"Then why are you hiding?"

"'m not hiding."

"Can I come in?" Andria asked.

"Nuh uh."

Andria sighed and went to her room where she got the lock pick set Axys had given her. Well, Axys had swiped from the Turk supply closet for her. She set to work on her mother's door and had it open in less than 30 seconds. "Okay, Mom," she said, placing her hands on her hips. "What gives? You turned away from food and I've been practicing cooking at Tifa's for a month to get that right. Denzel and Cloud are sick of breakfast for supper because of it. What's going on?"

Kandi poked her head out from under the covers. "How did you know it was my birthday?" she asked softly.

Andria shrugged. "I asked Reeve when he told me about you and he told me," she answered, setting down on the bed beside her mother. "What's the big deal?"

Kandi sighed and leaned back against the pillows. "It's not a day of celebration for me," she said. "It kinda sucks."

"Why?" Andria asked. "You that old?"

A pillow smacked into Andria's smirking face. "Twenty-eight," she answered, sticking out her tongue.

"Really?" Andria mocked. "Because you act eight."

"Ha ha."

Andria snuggled up next to her mom and hugged her. "What's the big deal, Mom?" she asked.

Kandi just shook her head. "Nothing," she answered. "Guess it just reminds me I'm getting older."

"Is that all?" the violet eyed girl asked.

"Sure," Kandi answered, pushing Andria off the bed. "Come on. I want that breakfast now. And I do take a ton of cream and sugar in my coffee."

Andria grinned. "Cool."

* * *

Kandi dropped Andria off at school and continued on down the road a little ways before pulling her bike over and pulling out her cell phone. She pulled off her helmet and shook her hair out before dialing a number.

_"This is Tseng."_

"Hey Bossman."

_"Good morning, Kandi,"_ came the smooth answer. _"I take it you will not be coming in today."_

"Do you have an assignment for me out of town?" she asked, chewing on a fingernail.

Tseng was silent for a moment, scrolling through his list of duties. _"The ruins of the Sector Five Slums have reported some increased monster activity,"_ he replied. _"Would you care for back up?"_

"Nah, I'm good," she answered. "Thanks, Bossman."

_"Happy Birthday, Kandi."_

"Bastard," Kandi grumbled as she hung up. She placed her helmet back on her head and revved the Fat Boy up, tires squealing as she tore down the streets of Edge and into Old Midgar, heading under the collapsed plate to the slums. She found a couple of monsters, nothing too big and took care of them with no problems. After about an hour or so, she stopped and turned the bike off, removing her helmet and getting off the bike. Taking in her surroundings, she noticed an old church. Dilapitated though it was, it was still a beautiful sight. Then it hit her.

This was _her_ church.

She looked up and saw several holes in the roof and even a section where it was missing all together. She wondered which hole Zack had made when he fell through. Grinning, she walked up the steps and entered the building, seeing the Lifestream pool in the center, surrounded by white and yellow lillies.

"Cool," she breathed out softly, her voice, despite it's low volume echoing off the walls.

Carefully, she walked up the aisle and stood at the edge of the pool, mindful not to step on the flowers. Stooping down, she gently touched one, breathing in it's fragrant scent. On her knees now, she looked around the church.

"So, this is where he met you," she asked aloud. "A lot better place than where he met me, that's for sure. This place saves the souls of the damned. My place, damned the souls of the saved."

_"It's the big one, on the left."_

Kandi's head whipped around at the voice. She found herself staring at the glowing form of the deceased Cetran flower girl. Aerith smiled and pointed to the ceiling at a large hole. _"That's where Zack fell in,"_ she said sweetly.

Kandi turned and looked, grinning a little as she visualized her friend crashing through the wood. "Did he flail his arms like a chocobo and scream like a little girl?" she asked.

Aerith giggled and knelt down beside her. _"Flailing, yes,"_ she answered. _"But I don't think he screamed."_

"Probably not," Kandi agreed. "Zack was too macho for that."

_"Now Cloud...I think screamed,"_Aerith added.

"That doesn't surprise me," Kandi grinned.

Aerith giggled again as she reached out and plucked a yellow lily. _"From Zack,"_ she said, offering it to the red-streaked woman. _"He says 'Happy Birthday'."_

Kandi took the lily and breathed in it's scent. She smiled slightly. "Zack always gave me yellow flowers," she said fondly. "For friendship."

Aerith nodded. _"You know, I've always been a little jealous of your relationship with him,"_ she admitted.

"You shouldn't be," Kandi told her.

_"You slept with him."_

Kandi nodded, twirling the flower around in her fingers. "Yeah," she answered, turning to face the woman. "I had his body. But his heart, always belonged to you."

Aerith studied her, her face spreading into a smile. _"Thank you,"_ she said sweetly. _"I didn't realize how much I needed to hear that."_

"You're welcome," she said. "I've been wanting to tell you that for a while now. I guess since Niki and Ak had their accidents and told me what happened while they were out. Sorry about all that."

_"I'm glad you have such loyal friends,"_Aerith simply replied. _"That's a sign as to what a good person you are."_

"I'm...not that great of a person," Kandi admitted. "I've made some bad decisions in my life."

Aerith sighed and pulled her knees up to her chest. _"Everyone has something in their past that they wish they could change,"_ she told her.

Kandi shook her head. "Not everyone," she replied, glancing over at the other woman. "I bet you don't. You were perfect."

_"I have regrets," _Aerith answered softly, plucking a flower and twirling it in her fingers. _"And I was far from perfect."_

Kandi snorted. "Please," she said rolling her eyes with a smile. "After I found out about you and Zack dating, you should have heard how highly he spoke of you. Akalara hated it. She was always routing for me and him to get together. She called you Saint Aerith the Pure and Boring. Oops...sorry."

Aerith laughed softly. _"It's okay,"_ she told her gently. _"Like I said, loyal friends. At least you didn't ever hurt your friends."_

"And you did?"

The Cetra nodded. _"She'd never admit it, though,"_ she explained. _"Not in a million years. Tifa was always too unselfish for that." _She sighed deeply and breathed in the scent of the flower in her hands. _"I wanted Cloud for myself, because he reminded me so much of Zack. And I knew that Zack...was gone."_

"Oh wow, mega bitch right there, Aerith," Kandi said sarcastically with another roll of her eyes. "From what they've told me, Cloud was pretty fucked up back then, thinking he was Zack and all. I think you both just found something familiar and clung to it. Besides, they're together now, so no harm done, right?"

_"I suppose not,"_ she answered. She looked over at the red-streaked woman and smiled. _"You know, despite what you may think, you're birthday _is _a cause for celebration."_

Another snort. "Right," Kandi said. "Thanks for trying to cheer me up, but--"

_"The Planet knows what it's doing, even though the people who inhabit it don't,"_ the flower girl interrupted, rising to her feet. _"You're right where you're supposed to be. Don't ever think otherwise."_

Aerith smiled down at the other woman's confused looked and giggled. _"Trust me,"_she said, kneeling back down and tucking the flower she had been playing with behind Kandi's ear. She patted her cheek and shook her head. _"You will never guess what Zack is screaming at me right now."_

"My guess would be, 'Oh my fucking gods, kiss her!'," Kandi answered with a grin.

Aerith leaned forward and kissed her cheek. _"You know him so well, even now,"_ she said with a laugh, rising to her feet once again. _"Take care, Kandi. And enjoy your life. You deserve it."_

Kandi nodded and smiled. "Thanks," she answered softly as the Cetra walked into a beam of sunlight and faded into it. She rose to her feet and brushed off her backside, grinning as she did. "You got a cool girl there, Zack. Real cool."

With a glance up to the hole in the ceiling, Kandi nodded and headed back to her bike, tucking the other flower in her hair. This place...it really was good for a person's soul.

* * *

_**A/N: Not too happy about the ending, but meh. And don't you hate it when author's give you a little glimpse of something about a character and then just kinda reel it back in, only to conclude the idea at a later date in another fic? I'm talking about Kandi's past here. I just went dangle, dangle, YOINK! Don't worry. I'll fill you all in later. Remember, she's a fuck up...since birth. Just keep that in mind. **_


End file.
